Take a Look At Court Marriage Process in Delhi
Court Marriage Process: The Indian law has allowed court marriage facility to all Indian citizens for many decades now. While not many people tend to opt for a court marriage there are a certain number of advantages with having a court marriage than a traditional wedding ceremony:
- First a court marriage is way cheaper than a traditional wedding ceremony. Whereas you can have a court marriage in a few hundreds, may be a few thousand rupees, there is absolutely no limit on how much you can spend on a traditional wedding.
- Second the court marriage process is very simple and getting a marriage certificate, which is a legal necessity, becomes an almost instant process. AS compared to this, with a traditional marriage you have to submit a lot of paperwork to get marriage certificate.
- Third, the legal recognition of a court marriage is cast in stone and cannot be challenged or disputed in a court of law with any measurable degree of success, unless some material illegality or fraud in the background of any party can be proven. On the other hand, it is slightly easier to challenge a traditional wedding, particularly one that has not been registered with the appropriate authorities yet
Who can enter into a court marriage in Delhi
The following is the criteria defined to be able to enter into a court marriage in Delhi.
- First, both parties must have attained the to be legally allowed to be married. For male side this is 21 years of age and for females, this is 18 years of age. Generally, this can be proven by presenting birth certificate or class 10 passing certificate pf both parties.
- Neither party should have a living spouse anywhere inside or outside of India to which they are currently in a valid marital relation.
- Both the parties should be of sound mind, should be able to understand what they are doing and should be able to provide free and willing consent to the relationship in which they are about to enter.
- Both parties should not be in a prohibited relation with each other which includes direct blood relation like siblings or parental relations. Marriage between cousins is allowed if their family traditions allow them to the satisfaction of the legal authority presiding over the proceedings.
- Neither party should be suffering from any insanity or mental disorder. This is done to protect such people from undue influence of any kind.
Steps for court marriage in Delhi
- Notification of an intent to marry: Both the parties who intend to marry shall first provide a notification to the registrar of marriages responsible for the district. Such notice has to be given in a prescribed format in the format duly prescribed in Second Schedule.
- Publication of such notification to general public: The concerned office shall than publish the notice to public. While the SDMs used to send a copy of notification to parental addresses of the concerned parties, the Delhi government in 2021 has instructed the officers to do away with the practice. Only the publication of notification on a public notice board shall suffice.
- Objection to marriage: The purpose of this notification is to give some time to people so that they can raise objections to the marriage, if any, as well as to provide a time window for any fact finding which may render either or both parties ineligible for the marriage. If the concerned officer receives any objection, they shall have a 30 days window to conduct enquiry and report on the same
- Declaration of marriage and the ceremony: After 30 days have passed since posting of notification on public board, if no objections are received or if received objections are enquired and found to be inapplicable, three witnesses will have to present themselves along with both parties. The form prescribed in Third Schedule shall be signed by all present including witnesses and both parties.
- Issue of marriage certificate: Once such form is received and reviewed by marriage officer, they shall issue a marriage certificate which is also to be signed by the three witnesses and both parties. This will be considered as the legal proof of both parties being married.
Once all these steps are done, both parties are considered to be legally married and there can be no going back unless the marriage is declared void ab initio by a court of law. The parties have the option to get a divorce as per applicable laws.
While the process seems to be rather simple, if you are intending to get a court marriage done, it is best to retain the services of a lawyer who will help you negotiate the process with considerable ease and accuracy. They will also ensure the eligibility of both parties to marry in all aspects, thus preventing any messy situation later in the process.